---
title: Capabilities for Different Windows and Platforms
sidebar:
  order: 11
---

import { Steps } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';
import ShowSolution from '@components/ShowSolution.astro'
import Cta from '@fragments/cta.mdx';

This guide will help you customize the capabilities of your Tauri app.

## Content of this guide

- Create multiple windows in a Tauri app
- Use different capabilities for different windows
- Use platform-specific capabilities

## Prerequisites

This exercise is meant to be read after completing [`Using Plugin Permissions`](/learn/security/using-plugin-permissions/).

## Guide

<Steps>
1. ### Create Multiple Windows in a Tauri Application

   Here we create an app with two windows labelled `first` and `second`.
   There are multiple ways to create windows in your Tauri application.

   #### Create Windows with the Tauri Configuration File

   In the Tauri configuration file, usually named `tauri.conf.json`:

    <ShowSolution>
    ```javascript
      "productName": "multiwindow",
      ...
      "app": {
        "windows": [
          {
            "label": "first",
            "title": "First",
            "width": 800,
            "height": 600
          },
          {
            "label": "second",
            "title": "Second",
            "width": 800,
            "height": 600
          }
        ],
      },
      ...
    }
    ```
    </ShowSolution>

   #### Create Windows Programatically

    In the Rust code to create a Tauri app:

    <ShowSolution>
    ```rust
    tauri::Builder::default()
        .invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![greet])
        .setup(|app| {
            let webview_url = tauri::WebviewUrl::App("index.html".into());
            // First window
            tauri::WebviewWindowBuilder::new(app, "first", webview_url.clone())
                .title("First")
                .build()?;
            // Second window
            tauri::WebviewWindowBuilder::new(app, "second", webview_url)
                .title("Second")
                .build()?;
            Ok(())
        })
        .run(context)
        .expect("error while running tauri application");
    ```
    </ShowSolution>

2. ### Apply Different Capabilities to Different Windows

    The windows of a Tauri app can use different features or plugins of the Tauri backend.
    For better security it is recommended to only give the necessary capabilities to each window.
    We simulate a scenario where the `first` windows uses filesystem and dialog functionalities and `second`
    only needs dialog functionalities.

    #### Separate capability files per category

    It is recommended to separate the capability files per category of actions they enable.

    <ShowSolution>
    JSON files in the `src-tauri/capabilities` will be taken into account for the capability system.
    Here we separate capabilities related to the filesystem and dialog window into `filesystem.json`
    and `dialog.json`.

    *filetree of the Tauri project:*
    ```
    /src
    /src-tauri
      /capabilities
        filesystem.json
        dialog.json
      tauri.conf.json
    package.json
    README.md
    ```
    </ShowSolution>

    #### Give filesystem capabilities to the `first` window

    We give the `first` window the capability to have read access to the content of the `$HOME` directory.

    <ShowSolution>
    Use the `windows` field in a capability file with one or multiple window labels.

    ```json title="filesystem.json"
    {
      "identifier": "fs-read-home",
      "description": "Allow access file access to home directory",
      "local": true,
      "windows": ["first"],
      "permissions": [
        "fs:allow-home-read",
      ]
    }
    ```
    </ShowSolution>

    #### Give dialog capabilities to the `first` and `second` window

    We give to `first` and `second` windows the capability to create a "Yes/No" dialog

    <ShowSolution>
    Use the `windows` field in a capability file with one or multiple window labels.

    ```json title="dialog.json"
    {
      "identifier": "dialog",
      "description": "Allow to open a dialog",
      "local": true,
      "windows": ["first", "second"],
      "permissions": ["dialog:allow-ask"]
    }
    ```

    </ShowSolution>


3. ### Make Capabilities Platform Dependent

    We now want to customize the capabilities to be active only on certain platforms.
    We make our filesystem capabilities only active on `linux` and `windows`.

    <ShowSolution>
    Use the `platforms` field in a capability file to make it platform-specific.

    ```json title="filesystem.json"
    {
      "identifier": "fs-read-home",
      "description": "Allow access file access to home directory",
      "local": true,
      "windows": ["first"],
      "permissions": [
        "fs:allow-home-read",
      ],
      "platforms": ["linux", "windows"]
    }
    ```

    The currently available platforms are `linux`, `windows`, `macos`, `android`, and `ios`.
    </ShowSolution>

</Steps>

## Conclusion and Resources

We have learned how to create multiple windows in a Tauri app and give them specific capabilities. Furthermore these capabilities can also be targeted to certain platforms.

An example application that used window capabilities can be found in the [`api` example](https://github.com/tauri-apps/tauri/tree/dev/examples/api) of the [Tauri Github repository](https://github.com/tauri-apps/tauri).
The fields that can be used in a capability file are listed in the [Capability](/reference/acl/capability/) reference.
